Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality

[Sci-2]

Thanks for this. I've sorta decided to hold off reading this until the whole thing is finished, but glad to know it isn't abandoned.

Best fan-fic ever? At least the most educational for me.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

This author should really write something of his own. He's not bad.

[Seli]

I just read what is available. I don't know if it would stand on its own, and there are clunky bits but it is quite fine. A lot of the problems it seems to suffer from (such as characters that disappear for ages) are also present in the Rowling books.

Scot, he did write "Three Worlds Collide" before, and I heard some good things about it. It might rival Bakker in some ways going by these descriptions.

[James Nicholls]

I had a read of the first chapter, and, ironically enough for a fan-fic that is about examining suspension of disbelief, I found the writer's interpretation of Rowling's characters wasn't something I could believe in. The idea of Petunia crying or indeed showing any weakness is absolute bunk, and that's even if you get past the idea of her leaving Vernon (who she is very suited to). I suspect if I tried to read on I'd find myself constantly thinking "Yeah, that character wouldn't do that." I suppose that's why I rarely read fan-fics anyhow.

[Grogsmash]

I had a read of the first chapter, and, ironically enough for a fan-fic that is about examining suspension of disbelief, I found the writer's interpretation of Rowling's characters wasn't something I could believe in.

I guess it comes down to your opinion of the characterization of Harry Potter. The adopted parents of Harry's were just so shrill and cartoonishly evil, same with Draco Malfoy and many other characters. The Methods improves on so much of the characterization that sure, he takes liberties and changes some of the personalities, but to me that was a good thing.

[James Nicholls]

I guess it comes down to your opinion of the characterization of Harry Potter. The adopted parents of Harry's were just so shrill and cartoonishly evil, same with Draco Malfoy and many other characters. The Methods improves on so much of the characterization that sure, he takes liberties and changes some of the personalities, but to me that was a good thing.

Interesting thought. I suppose that Rowling characters rarely show moral ambiguity (they are pretty much bad or good), but in the context of the series it kind of makes sense to me. At any rate having lived with the characters for a decade or when someone says Petunia that's who I'm expecting. Also I do know people who are quite like Harry's Aunt and Uncle :P

[Gertrude]

Finally!. Happy to hear some news on this.

I can understand how jarring it would be to see a different portrayal of familiar characters, but it doesn't bother me. I like to see familiar stories twisted into a different direction. I'd say that if you aren't intrigued by this after Harry's shopping trip in Diagon Alley, then it might not be for you. It does take a little bit to get going, but I really enjoy it a lot.

[felice]

The idea of Petunia crying or indeed showing any weakness is absolute bunk, and that's even if you get past the idea of her leaving Vernon (who she is very suited to).

The Petunia we know from canon is one who's already been married to Vernon for a decade or two, though - most of her adult life. Isn't it reasonable to expect she'd have turned out quite differently if her life took such a different course?

[Erik of Hazelfield]

I don't know where I read it but I think the author himself wrote that this is to be interpreted as an "alternate universe" type fanfic. He hasn't just taken the premise that Harry is smarter and let things happen from there, but has shaped a lot of people totally differently from what they're like in the books. Professor Quirrell is probably the most striking example.

[mjgambino]

Is there any legal reason why the author of this couldn't just change the names of the characters and places and try to commercially release this as a thinly veiled Harry Potter parody?

[The Imp's Advocate]

Nah, so much depends on references to the canon story and characters. It really piggybacks on the original,it wouldn't work nearly as well on its own without major revisions

[Migey]

It wouldn't work on it's own at all. Despite being far superior to the original, it would not work at all without it.

Is it confirmed that Quirrel is Voldemort? I actually thought that Quirrel genuinely was not - and if he is, then wow. Much smarter, and Voldemort is actually INTERESTING. Is it actually confirmed?

[felice]

I don't think it's officially confirmed, but it seems like the most logical interpretation of the evidence (Harry's feeling of doom when they get too close, the way Quirrel's body goes braindead sometimes suggesting Voldy has completed destroyed his host's mind, etc).

[afterroots]

It wouldn't work on it's own at all. Despite being far superior to the original, it would not work at all without it.

Is it confirmed that Quirrel is Voldemort? I actually thought that Quirrel genuinely was not - and if he is, then wow. Much smarter, and Voldemort is actually INTERESTING. Is it actually confirmed?

For all intents and purposes, yes. Here's my post on the last page re: Quirrelmort

[theMountainGoat]

So I spent most of Saturday reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. HOLY SHIT! It may be fan fiction but it is still a work of genius. Well written, intelligent (apart from a few goofy moments), thought provoking (even if it is guilty of a couple of straw men here and there) with a far more complex plot with more complicated characters than J K Rowlings' books. Of course it totally riffs off the original and pokes fun at all the stuff that did not make any sense (like Quidditch) but it is so radically different that it could be argued that it should be considered a work of art on it's own merits.

The basic premise is that in this version Petunia did not marry Vernon Dursley and instead dumped him for an Oxford University professor and so Harry Potter grows up in a highly educational environment and becomes a child prodigy who has studied maths, science, philosophy, psychology, politics and much more to a university degree level and is also a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and all the SF classics. So this Harry is a completely different character by the time he reaches 11 years of age, however everyone else remains the same at the start of the story but because of the way things unfold they react and change over time in a completely believable way because of more or less interaction with Harry. For instance Harry considers Ron to be too stupid to be his friend so he never spends time with him. Hermonie becomes Harry's intellectual rival. And with his grounding in SF Harry immediately recognises the pattern of this story he is in and realises Voldemort must still be alive and Draco is a pawn of his father so he resolves to redeem Draco and use him for his own ends.

This Harry is perhaps less likeable, even as he uses logic and rational thought to deconstruct the magical world and get the better of all the teachers. It would have been really easy for the author to write this Harry as a total gary-stu but he does not get everything go his own way, not at all. In fact his methods of rationality often gets him into very deep trouble. Although he did not grow up living underneath the stairs and his parents provided every opportunity for him to learn they were still emotionally distant from Harry and so he does not make friends easily and has very different psychological problems to overcome.

There are many scenes which are genuinely laugh out loud moments. We get chapters written from the point of view of character's other than Harry such as Hermonie, Draco and Professor McGonagal which make for a refreshing change of pace. Something which elevates this above 99.9% of all other fan fiction is that it pokes fun at the whole fan fiction sub-culture. For example one girl has a crush on Snape and her heart flutters when he tells her to stay after class and see him. Usually in fan fiction this would prompt something really icky but here Snape crushes her dreams saying he does not return her affections and tells her to stop it immediately. With all seven books of the original series complete the author has the entire source material to go at and he uses it in very different ways, for example the Deathly Hallows get mentioned and other plot elements and characters from later books are introduced early for comic effect.

I am about half way through the 78 chapters that have been written so far and the author (enigmatically known as Less Wrong) is still on the first year at Hogwarts. He releases new chapters as and when he can, usually every couple of weeks or so. Not sure if he will write up all seven years of the story or if this Harry will defeat the Dark Lord in half the time it took the original Harry. But then when the rules are this different anything could happen, maybe Voldemort will win, or maybe Harry will really become the next Dark Lord and have to be defeated by the other characters. It genuinely could go anywhere and that makes this interesting and worth reading.

[felice]

"Update 2/7: Currently 4,800 words into Ch. 83, the Aftermath (final chapter) of the next story sequence." Shouldn't be much longer to wait 8)

[afterroots]

A new behemoth of a chapter is up. As long as the wait was it was certainly worth it, fantastic chapter.

Re: the author notes, I quite like the idea of the novella sized installment posting schedule with the odd chapter release.

[Revan Baratheon]

It's quite obvious that all magic and magical power and abilities in the Harry Potter-verse is decided by one thing.

Midichlorians.

Atleast George Lucas is an original writer unlike people like paolini who ripped off the entire OT.Lucas is also the most relaxed when copyright and infringement is concerned,you can always find the entire SW franchise on youtube,parodies and there is lots of fanfic.

Concerning the OP,i read the first chapter.It was hilarious,sort of reminds me of Bored of the rings in the sense that this will probably turn out to be an epic parody series of an epic series :D

[felice]

It's not just a parody, though; while it stays frequently hilarious, it's also telling a serious story of its own.

[Reposado]

It's not just a parody, though; while it stays frequently hilarious, it's also telling a serious story of its own.

It is and it isn't. I read the first 8 chapters the other week. While I liked it, there were parts that were confusing having not read regular HP.

There were certainly points (like the sorting hat) that made me wonder what it was mocking and confused about what house the real harry wound up in.

So there are parts where it mocks genre conventions and parts where it is just a good story, but there are certainly parts which are simple HP parody.